A Little Whine About Winick

I seem to be displaying all of the least attractive features of a self-entitled Fangirl, and in some ways, I'm heartily ashamed of myself. In other ways however, I'm feeling awfully cranky.

What would most fans do, if suddenly, Batman or Superman were to be portrayed as whiney, cowardly, and completely out of character, in comparison to their previous depictions? I'm betting that there would be a helluva lot of screaming.

So why is it that when Judd Winick does exactly that to a woman character, there is hardly any outcry at all, except amongst a few? I'm speaking of Tora Olafsdottir, aka Ice of course, but actually, this same scenario can be applied to several other characters. I don't think that Winick portrays women particularly well. I gave up reading Power Girl, whom I am VERY fond of, because he made her suddenly totally incompetent. For twelve glorious issues, Palmiotti and Gray and Amanda Conner had portrayed her as smart and sassy and fun to be around. Now she's lost her joie de vivre, not to mention all her money, and seems to be stumbling around from crisis to crisis without a clue. Not my cup of tea.

Ice, whom I have pointed out before has ALWAYS been portrayed as one of the nicest, sweetest most loveable characters in the DC Universe. She wasn't a first tier character, and she may not have been everyone's favorite character, but I honestly can't think of too many people who didn't at least like her. I've always loved Ice. I know that she made her debut in the Global Guardians, but it was in the old Justice League that she came to life, along with her best friend Fire, and I thought that she was a breath of fresh air.

It isn't necessary for a woman to be "strong" if it means that she's going to be portrayed as bitchy. Tora was sweet and gentle, but she had a core of steel that was always depicted as being there when she needed it. And having Guy Gardner for a boyfriend meant that she needed it a whole lot. She just didn't go around making a big production out of it. It was NICE having someone who was...nice.

I understand that coming back from the dead can be disconcerting, but I just can't get over the way that Winick is portraying her in the bi-weekly series of JLI. I actually am enjoying the new series, because I love the characters, but every other week, it still sticks in my craw, when Tora starts swearing.

Superman doesn't act like this, and for good reason. And if someone suddenly started writing him that way, there would be one fair old hullabaloo. Pissing and moaning, and cursing doesn't make Ice look tough or strong...it makes her look pathetic. I can't think of a single person who thought that the unfortunate darkening of Mary Marvel was a good idea...so why would they think that it was a good idea to blacken the good name of the last Good Girl that they have? There isn't room in the comic book industry for a genuinely nice female character?

I'm depressed.